Senior Data Journalist

Job summary

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime and migration.

Do you have a talent for making complex information clear and engaging? As a Data Journalist in ONS Digital Publishing, you'll transform statistics into compelling content, helping users access the insights they need while shaping the future of our digital publishing platform.

Digital Publishing is responsible for the ONS statistical dissemination service. We place the breadth of ONS data and analysis in the hands of our users in the most useful ways possible.

Data journalists specialise in making statistical content accessible and engaging for a broad audience. We work in multi-disciplinary teams, and collaboration is a large part of the role. We are currently focused on supporting the transition of our content to a new website platform.

Job description

Data journalists identify narratives in data and aid the understanding of statistical concepts, enabling improved communication to a wide variety of audiences in creative, accessible ways. We create content that makes statistics matter to our audiences.

As a senior data journalist, you’ll be responsible for leading journalism projects and coordinating between multiple teams to meet deadlines and standards. You’ll be asked to advise on the appropriate format for content and the communication of statistics for non-technical audiences. A basic understanding of statistics is necessary for this role, with a readiness to learn about various complex or specialist topics and work with experts.

Responsibilities

• Generating and developing high-quality editorial ideas based on data, and turning them into digital products (for example, articles, explainers, interactives, social media content) with impact.

• Collaborating and negotiating with statisticians, economists and analysts to balance the need for statistical accuracy with users’ need for clear, engaging and impactful content.

• Coordinating and managing your own projects, ensuring that everyone in the multi-disciplinary project team is hitting milestones.

• Supporting the migration and optimisation of citizen-focussed content as part transitioning to a new website platform.

• Managing the release of projects aimed at a wide range of users and working with colleagues across ONS to improve presentation and clarity.

• Offering support, expertise and advice to other parts of the organisation in areas such as editorial development and digital storytelling.

• Acting as a champion of our users’ needs within the organisation, to ensure our work is understood and valued internally.

• Building networks and positive relationships inside the organisation and sharing the management of planning sessions to foster good ideas and collaboration.

• Sharing responsibility for leading team meetings and working with managers and peers to improve the way we work.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Data journalism (Expert) - You can draw on extensive experience to generate journalistic ideas sourced from data and presented in a range of formats designed to serve different user types. You can draw on extensive experience in using data and statistical analysis techniques to find stories in data. You can write clearly and can distill complex and varied data sources into accessible insight. You can demonstrate experience of leading journalistic projects. You can demonstrate a track record of delivering work to a high standard and to specific deadlines.

• Data visualisation (Working knowledge) - You can use the most appropriate data visualisation to tell a focussed story that is relevant to the team's goals. You can work with others in a multidisciplinary team to ensure a visualisation provides the information they need.

• Stakeholder management (Expert) - You can manage long-term strategic relationships with stakeholders, identifying where new connections need to be made and existing ones nurtured. You can influence important senior stakeholders and arbitrate when blockers are escalated. You can facilitate discussions across high risk and complex areas or projects under constrained timelines.

• User-centred content design (Expert) - You can demonstrate extensive experience in creating, iterating, managing and overseeing content across multiple channels. You can be accountable for the production of high quality, user-focused content. You can encourage teams to review and evaluate the effectiveness of processes and systems, and support them to iterate for improvements.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing

• Working Together

• Delivering at Pace

• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Statistical literacy skills test at interview.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,985, Office for National Statistics contributes £12,163 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.